“These are values and issues that he believes in, he said. “What the governor was talking about today came form his core. This wasn’t just politics to him, this is his deeply held progressive philosophy, and Barack Obama is carrying the mantle for the progressive agenda on the national scene.”

“What the governor wanted to do at this convention is make sure he didn’t embroil himself in a cascade of distraction,” Jacobs said. “He does not want to begin discussion about four years from now when we’ve got an election ahead of us and he’s got a lot of work to do as our governor. I know he has seen, in the past, others get bogged down with too much talk of the future.”

“What is relevant is the job that you do, the polling and the message,” he said. “Then, if the opportunity arises and he begins to find himself in the national scene, what he did or did not do at this convention will be irrelevant…it’s like trying to capture destiny. You can’t do it at a convention four years ahead.”

“Andrew Cuomo did…the right thing,” Jacobs concluded. “He focused our attention on the job at hand. That’s exactly what a leader is supposed to do. Four years will come, soon enough, and if it’s in the cards, then it’s in the cards.”